Charles h



March 11 1924a 11,486,641

C.H.DASHER POUCH MAKING PROCESS Filed Dec. 2. 1.922

61 L b-0M4 013 Patented Mar. ll, l fit.

snare stat CHARLES H. DASHE, OF EAST ORANGE, NEVYJMSEY.

POUCH-MAKING- PROCESS.

Application filed December 2, 1922. I Serial Ito. 60l,569.

To all whom. it may coawern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES H. DASHER, a citizen of theUnited States, and residing at East Orange, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and Improved Pouch-Making Process, of which the following specification is a full disclosure.

This invention relates to improvements in the method of making self-affixing caps, such as are employed for enveloping the corked end of bottles containing fluids susceptible to evaporation; such as perfumes, ether, and even ordinary liquids.

In the conventional method of making these caps, a mandrel of resistant material is dipped in a solution of cellulose xanthate (habitually known as so-called viscose) and, upon being withdrawn, it retains a film which is then set by a subsequent submersion in an appropriate coagulating solution, etc. In the course of the various subsequent steps,'the coagulated film is manually manipulated to detach it from the mandrel. The film is'still soft and rubber-like and has the shape of a, 'pouch. The open end of this sac-like article is, however, surrounded by a more or less ragged edge; resulting from the fact that, when the mandrel is drawn from the bath of viscose, the solution (being decidedly tenacious) tends to leave only a feather-edge which gradually in.-

creases in thickness as it merges with the major portion of the pouch. These thin ragged edges are objectionable in the finished article and therefore it is necessary to cut oil the extremity of the article before packing it for shipment. This entails loss of considerable material as scrap and it moreover consumes much time (which very materially increases the labor cost) and it likewise produces anedge which does not accurately coincide' with a radial plane inasmuch as the articlehas to be collapsed when cut.

The present invention has for its object to produce a sac-like article, the rim of which will-be truly circular in a flat plane and which will be at least as thick as the material constituting the body-portion of the pouch; even to the extent of exhibiting a slight head, should that be desired. An-

other aim of the invention i very materially toreduce the manufacturing cost by accomplishing a complete elimination of the present necessity for manually trimming the detached pouches prior to shipment, and also to efi'ect an elimination of much, if not all, of the manual manipulation heretofore required for the purpose of detaching the sacl1ke caps from the ends of the mandrels on which they are formed. This last-mentioned step has heretofore involved considerable time and trouble since it requires rather careful manipulation with the hands to roll back the feather-edge of the caps and theregy femove them, inside out, from the man- Other objects and advantages will be in part indicated in the following description I and in part rendered apparent therefrom in connection with the annexed drawings.

I To enable others skilled in the art so fully to apprehend the underlying features hereof that they may perform the same in the various way contemplated by this invention, drawings depicting a preferred typical mode of operation have been annexed as a part of this disclosure and, in such drawings, like characters of reference denote corresponding parts throughout all the views, of which Fig. 1 represents a mandrel thrust into a viscose bath to coat it initially. Fig. 2 represents the mandrel immediately upon being withdrawn from the bath. Fig. 3 represents the mandrel inverted to equalize the distribution of the coating with the follower slightly raised to initially shape the edge of the cap. Fig. 4 shows the mandrel and follower submerged to fix the film. Fig.

5 represents the follower in its advanced position after having stripped the finished pouch from the'mandrel.

In carrying out this im roved process, a highly polished mandrel having a truly cylindrical shank 1 terminate in an extremity 2 suitably contoured to ive the finished article its desired shape an dimensions, is thrust vertically downwards into a sufiiciently thick bath B of so-called viscose until the level of the liquid reaches a predetermined point on the shank of the mandrelf After allowing the mandrel to remain in place for a sufficient interval to permit the original level of the viscose to become restored, the mandrel is then withdrawn vertically. upwards out of the bath. llhe fluid being thick and rather stringy tends to be stretched by the'hath to accumulate by its cohesion in a large drop 5 at the'lowermost coagulating end of the mandrel and, to dissipate said drop-like accumulation, the mandrel is then quickly inverted into a vertical position to allow the excess material constituting the drop slowly to gravitate down and become uniformly distributed with the other portions of the thick liquid constituting the still-fluid film.

When the mandrel is withdrawn from the bath, the thick liquid adhering to it is comparatively thin at the point 6 where it terminates on the shank and, to avoid that objectionable formation from becoming a permanent charateristic of the film a so-called stripper O is so mounted on an extension of the shank as to be adapted, preferably by mechanical means, to he slipped along the shank toward its end. This stripper C has a snug-fitting relation with. the shank of the mandrel and acts as a wiper therefor so that when the mandrel has been withdrawn and inverted, as previously described, this stripper is caused to slide upwardly on the then-inverted shank; the extent of its movement being such that it will slide slightly past the point defining the extent to which the mandrel has been submerged in the bath. The effect of this action is to cause the stripr to wipe the mandrel free of the deposited iquid viscose for a distance of about five millimeters or more, depending upon the extent to which it is desired to thicken the marginal edge of the finished article. This stripper pushes back the film of fluid viscose to the desired extent and consolidates it, in the form of a thickened annularring, until it attains at least the thickness of the main bod portion of the sac-like article.

The em ryonic article on the mandrel is thereby given approximately its ultimate shape and dimensions and it is now in a state suitable for being hardened or gelatinized. This is accomplished by again inverting the mandrel and promptly thrusting it downwardly ifi to a suitable preliminary bat Coagulation of the viscose film can be brought about by solutions of neutral salts such as sodium chloride and the speed with which the coagulation occurs is dependent upon the concentration of the salt in the solution. In the practice of making these caps a salt of a di-basic acid as sulphuric acid is used and for this purpose ammonium sulphate is satisfactory. Also, in practice since the viscose is quite caustic, this salt is used in part in its acid form, viz, hydrogen ammonium sulphate and in part as neutral ammonium sulphate, and the required acid to keep this bath at proper strength is added as required. Further, it is the practice to maintain 'a flow of the coagulating bath counter-current to the movement of the viscose caps through the bath. Thus thecaps in their progress through the bath keep meetshrinkage of the molded cap, generally in two dimensions, viz, length and thickness of film and always in one demension, viz, thickness shrinkage in diamenter. With smooth molds such as are commercially used (and undoubtedly also dependent upon the coefiicient of friction between the wet viscose film and the material of the mjold) the shrinkage is invariably in the two dimensions specified above. Naturally the smoother the surface of the mold, the lower is the apparent friction efl'ect of this surface. This shrinkage results in the cap adhering closely and tightly at this stage to the mold.

It has been further discovered, in devising the new process, that the cohesion between the stripper and the coagulating viscose is such (and by roiighening the surface can be increased) that shrinkage in length is eliminated entirely and the shrinkage is restrained to the thickness. Consequently, by utilizing the new process, a commercial cap can be manufactured to a predetermined length and with a properly a thickened edge.

It will be appreciated that the sac-like article, as it leaves the hardening bath, very completely envelops the end of the mandrel and is in close intimate contact therewith; so much so that it would be diflicult, at that stage, to remove it without breaking the film on account of the closeness of its adherence and. because of the formation of a vacuum at all internal points where the parts were somewhat separated. However, this removal is rendered possible by a peculiar action of the above-described acid bath.

That is to say, it has been further discovered that, when these caps on their molds are treated with coagulating baths of such final acidity that they are fully acid as they leave the bath, a gas generation occurs between the coagulated cap and its mold which is sufiicient to break the contact between them. This gas is suflicient invol ume and pressure to prepare'the way for the next labor-saving step; which is that of mechanical stripping. By using the above mentioned wiper as a device to strip the cap from its mold, the cap may be detached without distorting it, since this gas breaks the vacuum that, otherwise,

of film. The mold restrains inseam would result in any attempt to remove a erfectly fitting elastic cap from its mold. uch a vacuum would necessarily collapse the elastic cap, during the withdrawal of the mold, and wrinkle it badly.

The stripping is now accomplished'after removingthe mandrel from the acid bath, by causin the follower or stripper C to advance al bng the shank 1 towards the head thereof. The follower, while snugly encircling the shank, slides smoothly along it and functions, without unduly wrinkling or in any manner injuring the sac-like film thereon, to push it off the end of the mandrel as shown by Fig. 5. The detached caps, at this stage, represent a considerable saving; not only in labor but likewise in material. They have no excess im erfect length that has to be sheared 0 and regarded as scrap. In the old method, the longitudinal shrinkage alone (regardless of the undesirable feather edge) made it necessary to make initial submergence sufficiently deep to over-compensate for the longitudinal shrinkage; that being the only way of avoiding the pro duction of a certain number of too-short ca s. In other words, the ultimate shear- 0 step was depended upon to attain the length desired for the finished product. This loss is entirely avoided inthe present process.

The detached and truly dimensioned cap.

is then submerged in a washing bath for a sufficient period and is thereupon placed in a de-sulphurizing bath consisting, for example, of sodium sulphite. It may be explained, that when the film was subjected to the action of sulphuric acid it was rendered quite opaque in appearance by reason of being impregnated with free sulphur produced by the action of the free acid. To restore the film to its original translucence, is the purpose of the de-sulphurizing bath; the free sulphur being simply dissolved by the sodium-sulphite or whatever other sulphur-dissolver may be resorted to.

The film is now washed again to free it from the sodium sulphite and is then ready for such further finishing operations as may be desired. For example, it may or may not be bleached and it may or may not be colored by the use of suitable d es. After whatever finishing has been per ormed, the caps are packed, while still moist, with some suitable preserver, such as formaldehyde, in suitable containers which are sealed to prevent evaporation and hardening so that the films will reach the ultimate user in their elastic condition. They are then in condition for immediate use; which merely requires that they be slipped over the corkedend of a bottle and permitted to dry; whereupon they shrink into place and pro duce the parchment-like covering habitually seen on bottles of perfumery and the like.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of this invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various utilizations by retaining one or more of the essential characteristics of either the generic or specific aspects of this invention, and, therefore, such adaptations should be, and are intended to be, comprehended within the meaning and range of'equivalency of the following claims.

Havingthus revealed this invention, I claim as new and desire to secure the following combinations and elements, or equivalents thereof, by Letters Patent of the United States:

1. The art of making a viscose article which consists in first depositing on a mandrel a coating of fluid viscose; then predetermining the ultimate length of the finished product by pressing the edge of the fluid back somewhat with a follower; then producing a flexible tenacious film by effecting a coagulation of the coating while retaining the follower in said position; and subsequently detaching the flexible film from the mandrel.

2. The art of making a viscose article which consists in coating a mandrel with fluid viscose; then effecting a coagulation of said viscose under conditions to produce gas between the film and the mandrel to reduce the adhesion; and then causing a snugfitting follower to slide along the mandrel and detach the coagulated article.

3. The art of making in a predetermined length a stocking-likearticle of viscose, which consists in coating the end of a shouldered mandrel with fluid viscose and establishing contact between said shoulder and said fluid; then coagulating the fluid coating while still in contact with said shoulder to enable said shoulder to restrict the longitudinal shrinkage of the film; then Eemoving the coagulated film from the manrel.

4. The art of producing viscose sac-like caps of predetermined length without wastage which consists in coating a mandrel havinga slidable shoulder with fluid viscose and causing said material to adhere to said shoulder; effecting a coalescence of said coating by a chemical reaction producing sufficient free-gas to loosen the cap on the mandrel; and then causing said shoulder 30 aidvance to detach the cap from the man- 5. The art of making viscose pouches which consists in first depositing on a mandrel a coating of fluid viscose; then accurately determining the location and thickness of the extreme edge of the fluid by pressing the fluid edge back somewhat with a follower; then with the follower in said osition effecting a coagulation of the coatconditions adapted to lessen the adhesion ing to produce a tenacious film; then debetween the film and the mandrel and then tachin the film from the mandrel. removing the film from the mandrel.

6. T e art of making viscose caps which 8. The art of producingv viscose caps of consists in coating the end of a mandrel predetermined length without wastage with fluid viscose; then advancing a snug" which consists in dipping a mandrel havfitting follower along the shank of said ing a slidable shoulder in a bath to coat mandrel to determine the length of the cap it with fluid viscose; removing said mandrel then efiecting a coagulation of said viscose from said bath and inverting it to cause said under conditions to produce gas between fluid material to adhere to said shoulder; the film and the mandrel toreduce the adeffecting a coalescence of said coating under hesion; and then causing said follower to conditions producing suflicient free gas to' slide along the mandrel until the coagulated loosen the ca i on the mandrel; and then cap has been detachedfrom the mandrel. causing said s oulder to advance to detach 7. The art of making viscose caps in a the ca from the mandrel.

predetermined length which consists in coat- In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe ing the end of a shouldered mandrel and the my name, as attested by the two subscribside-face of said shoulder with fluid viscose; ing witnesses.

then initiating the coagulation of the fluid coating while in contact with said shoulder to enable said shoulder to restrict the longitudinal shrinka e of the film; then completing the coagu ation under gas-evolving CHARLES H. DASHER.

Witnesses MINNA STRAUGH, DoLLY Wnlsrmn'. 

